Unqualified

Allie and I had been in the Philippines for just under two months when our house in Emrang was finally finished and we had learned enough of the language to move from Kementian. In some ways it was hard to move. We were getting to know the people in Kementian, we were getting close to the other ~10 missionaries, and now we were going to go a two hour hike further up into the mountains to live by ourselves in the midst of people we didn’t know. Brain Glass had been working in Emrang over two years and needed a replacement for the small school and clinic that he started there. The original plan was for Allie and me to overlap two weeks with him, the first of which we would be observing him, the second of which he would be assisting us. 

“Funny, very funny”, I thought sarcastically to myself when the plans changed. We observe Brian for four days total, and then we’re completely on our own? We are supposed to teach four students Math, Reading, Writing, and Bible, all in a language we can barely speak ourselves? Are you kidding? Besides that, I’m a nurse, NOT a teacher! Feelings of my inadequacies swept over me; I was completely overwhelmed. I wanted to panic, I wanted to cry. Allie and I had returned to Kementian for the weekend in between observing and being on our own so we could prepare with the other missionaries for the upcoming camp meeting. By the time we completed the two hour hike back to Emrang, we had recommitted ourselves to God and placed the situation in God’s hands. Things always go better when God is the one in control. 

By now we have survived a few weeks of school and none of the kids have dropped out! I’m not sure who is learning more, the students or the teachers, but I think overall it is a symbiotic relationship. We have school four mornings a week, from 8-12, then we are available for anyone needing medical care. We get anywhere from 0-15 patients in a day, primarily treating malaria, then skin diseases, worms, colds, and things of the sort.  

We have an amazing hut to live in, thanks to Jonathan Miller, Brian Glass, and about 40 other people from Emrang. It is actually my dream house—a little thatch roof hut in the middle of the jungle. We have one room with bunk beds, about 5 shelves, and a little desk. A step down from there we have a counter, a 2-burner stove, a dish drainer, and all of our food. Another step down, with a curtain separating it, we have a small clinic where we see patients. 

We used to have to walk an1/8^th of a mile down a steep, slippery, muddy trail to our water source where we could do our dishes and take our baths, but we were more than excited when they completed our bamboo waterline, bringing water right outside our hut! We get to have candlelit dinners every evening, and we never have a lack of attention. Usually there isn’t anyone looking through the holes in our wall before 7 am or after 6 pm. The ratio of children to adults is probably 3 or 4 to 1, with the children greatly outnumbering the adults. They are adorable kids, and even though I appreciate the times that we don’t have people watching us, my love for all of the people in Emrang is growing by leaps and bounds. 

The mountains are gorgeous, as is the ocean which can be seen from the school. Although I never pictured myself doing lesson plans or teaching school (to any kids other than my own), God gives strength and wisdom where it is needed, and I have seen very clearly how God has used my feeble efforts to do more than I could personally ever do. I’m thankful that God does not call the qualified, but He truly does qualify the called. 

Clearing our bamboo water line

Allie & I with our students after Art class